GHSA cross country meet set for Saturday in Carrollton

Thursday

Nov 8, 2012 at 7:37 PM

Dennis Knight

The Benedictine cross country team dominated on its way to winning the Region 2-AA title last week. Coach Bill Curley hopes his team is peaking at just the right time as the Cadets head to Carrollton High School on Saturday for the GHSA State Cross Country Championships.

"These kids have done everything we have asked of them and more," Curley said Thursday. "Our goal from the beginning was a top-five finish at state. That's a lofty goal for Low Country kids, but I think we can do it."

The Cadets had runners finish first, second, third, fifth and seventh at the region meet.

Junior Sam Geha, who finished first in the region with a time of 17 minutes, 32 seconds, is expected to be a frontrunner Saturday. Senior Daniel Hoffman has been a solid No. 2 man all year, while Grant Lanser and Alec Fanning have battled back and forth for the No. 3 spot. Junior Steven Tate had his best career time at regions, finishing seventh in 19:08.

"It's going to be a hilly course," Curley said. "But we finished third at state in 2008 on a hilly course, and we've ran some similar courses during the season. I think we're peaking at the perfect time."

St. Vincent's also ran well last week in Swainsboro as the Saints won their sixth consecutive region title. Junior Juilet Salguerio led the pack, finishing second in 21:54. Sara Kathryn Boyles and Erin Kelly finished third and fourth, while Emily Drown and Kristen Lacey were seventh and ninth, respectively.

"As a team, our goal is to finish in the top 10," said Salguerio, who was also second in the region as a sophomore. "We've got a close-knit group with five juniors and we really motivate each other. And we've got a really good freshman in Sara Kathryn Boyles."

The Class A state championships were held last Saturday, but the rest of the races are set for this weekend. The Savannah Arts boys and girls teams are hoping for another strong showing after both squads won Region 1-AAA titles last week behind second-place individual finishes from Mandy Salmon and Nico Tedrick.

Sam Hannan of Islands High won the Region 1-AAA title with a time of 16:53 and is looking for a podium finish. Christel-Ann Ramus, a freshman at Islands, will race in her first state meet after a third-place finish in the region.

The Richmond Hill girls and boys teams will be competing in the Class AAAAA championships. The Wildcat girls team won the Region 3-AAAAA title last week as Amanda Elliott won the individual crown in 20:25. The Wildcats boys, led by second-place finisher Corey Jones (16:43), were third, behind winner Bradwell Institute and Effingham County.

The South Effingham girls won the Region 3-AAAA meet last week in Statesboro as Nicole Larson (22:00) took second. Sam Berendsen (17:12) was third overall in the boys race, earning a berth in the Class AAAA state meet along with teammate James Coon, who was fifth in 17:38.